1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method according to the introductory part of the appended claim 1 for forming an icon in a data processor related to an external device. The invention also relates to a wireless communication device according to the introductory part of the appended claim 8.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
When developing the operating systems of computers, attention has been paid to the user interface as well. Modern user interfaces contain a graphical user interface (GUI), in which visual information can be presented in a variety of ways. Microsoft Corporation, for example, has created the Windows(copyright) operating system, which contains a graphical user interface. This user interface also includes the so-called windowing, where a separate space (xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d) can be reserved in the display for the information presented by different applications. The size and location of this space can be changed according to the need. The window can also be minimized into a so-called icon without closing the application program, and thus a small icon is shown in the display, indicating that this application program is on. In the graphical user interface application, programs installed in the computer can also be presented as icons, by means of which the application programs can be started up.
An icon is usually a space of a particular size, variable in its shape in the display. The icon is presented by means of the pixels of the display so that their colour and brightness varies according to what kind of visual appearance has been determined for the icon. The information of the icon is composed of icon elements organized preferably in vertical and horizontal lines, wherein each icon element corresponds to the information of one pixel in a basic size icon. When enlarging the icon, the information of one icon element can be used correspondingly in adjusting the colour and brightness of several pixels. As is well known, the pixel of the RGB colour display is composed of three colour components: red, green and blue. By varying the brightness of these three components, it is possible to present multi-colour information (so-called full colour display). The icon information is advantageously stored in a memory so that for each icon element, one 8 bit storage space is reserved for each colour component. Thus each icon element requires 24 bits, in other words, 3 bytes of storage. In the Windows(copyright) operating system, the information of one icon is typically about one kilobyte.
Data transmission between computers and other devices connectable to them is typically implemented by means of a cable, so that a data transmission cable is connected between the devices. In office use, there may be several computers and other equipment such as printers, which are connected locally in a local area network. This local area network is normally implemented with cabling, for example with Ether-net cabling. Recently, however, wireless coupling methods have been developed, for example, data transmission systems for short distances, which function with the help of infrared or radio signals. The use of wireless data transmission systems like these is easier because the user does not have to connect the cables in various devices, all that is required is that the equipment is in the operating range of the data transmission system. Regardless of the technique used to implement this data transmission system, the features of the equipment typically need to be specified and the functional parameters to be set. The computer needs to receive information about the types of the devices (printer, telecopier, wireless communication device, modem) which are in data transmission connection with it, in order to use the right data transmission mode. Normally this is implemented so that the user starts up an installation program in the computer in which all the procedures required for defining the device in question in the operational environment of the computer have been programmed. The device, such as a printer or a wireless communication device, is accompanied with a diskette or CD ROM, containing this installation program. In connection with the installation program, information can usually also be found about the so-called icon. This icon can be output on the computer display, for example, if the wireless communication device is in the vicinity of the data processor. The user can usually move the icon to a desired location on the display and even change the size of the icon. The visual appearance of the icon does not, however, change when its size and location is changed. A defect in this system is, for instance, that the visual appearance of the icon contained in the installation program cannot be changed. Usually a diskette with the same contents is enclosed in every sales package of the device, e.g. for the reason that it is difficult and uneconomic to produce an individual diskette for every package. Different manufacturers may have different icons, but each manufacturer typically uses the same kind of icon in connection with its own wireless communication devices. This may cause confusions, especially in situations where the user has several wireless communication devices with somewhat different properties. If application programs installed in the computer for these wireless communication devices are represented with the same icon, but possibly with a different name, there is a great risk of mix-up: the user may accidentally start up a wrong application program. Problems are also caused by such possible situations where the user has a wireless communication device, but the corresponding application program is not installed in the computer. Thus, a general purpose application program can be used, by means of which at least some of the basic functions of the wireless communication device are available. The icon of this application program can, however, be misleading; it can, for example, represent a totally different wireless communication device. Therefore, it is not necessarily clear to the user that this is, however, the icon with which the application program for controlling the wireless communication device in question is set to work.
The wireless communication devices represented in FIG. 1 may be quite different as far as their features are concerned, even though they all are telecommunication terminals. One wireless communication device may only contain basic functions such as answering a call and call setup. Another wireless communication device may also include features such as sending and receiving text messages, as well as data features. Furthermore, a third wireless communication device may, in addition to telephone features, also contain data processing features, such as calendar functions, notebook functions, or the like.
One of the purposes of the present invention is to bring about a method for forming a device-specific icon on a data processor display in which the optical properties of the of pixels are changed in order to represent desired information. The information of the icon is retrieved, for example, from an external device, such as a wireless communication device, or on the basis of a search address transmitted from an external device to the data processor. The method according to the present invention is primarily characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of the appended claim 1. The wireless communication device according to the present invention is primarily characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of the appended claim 8. The invention is based on the idea that icon information or the search address of the icon information is retrieved from external devices, such as wireless communication devices in the vicinity of the host device.
The present invention gives considerable advantages compared to methods and wireless communication devices of prior art. When using a method according to the invention, application programs used to control wireless communication devices which are in the vicinity of the host device, can be distinguished on the basis of different icons. The icon can even be changed when the features of the wireless communication device are changed. Also, the icon can be changed for a program which is being used to control several different wireless communication devices. Thus the icon is changed in accordance with the wireless communication device which is in the vicinity of the data processor at a given time. Icons which can be changed according to the invention are more easily distinguishable from each other, thereby reducing the risk of mix-up. When utilizing a method according to the invention, it is not necessary to use a standard icon in connection with different application programs, but it is possible to dynamically design an individual icon for each application program. Since, for example, mobile stations are individually programmed in order to store, for instance, the device-specific IMEI code (International Mobile Equipment Identity), it is possible to advantageously store the information of at least one individual icon at the same time.